Tire sizes noted by diameter and width in inches are known as "Floatation"
tires. These are more designed for the off road stay on top of sand + mud
and the number often inflate the actual tire size. Side by side a 27 X
8.50-14 stands as tall and wide as most 215/70-14's.

Dennis

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
craig cowan
Sent: Sunday, July 17, 2011 9:06 AM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: understanding tire sizes

lets make things more fun and more confusing....
Go with the 195R14 size hankooks! (I have and greatly prefer them to the 185
size).

Others may be able to explain better than me, but I believe there are
several different standards of measure for tires size. LT size is generally
measured as 27x8.5x14 (an example), using actual measurements in inches.
Pmetric is  measured as 215/75/15 (an example), using cross section, percent
of cross section as sidewall height, and rim size (rim size is apparently
the only measurement in inches)

I believe that the system of 185R14 and 195R14 simply rely on a fixed ratio
for sidewall height, say 75. Thus, a 195 is a bit taller and a bit wider
than a 185.

-Craig
'85Gl turned WESTY
BOSTIG in the back
'87 SUNROFF Syncro

On Sun, Jul 17, 2011 at 8:27 AM, Harry Hoffman
<hhoffman@ip-solutions.net>wrote:

> Hi All,
>
> So, I'm thinking that I'll go with the 185R14 Hankooks given that my
> current tires are probably a danger to me and others on the road.
>
> I'm trying to understand a few things, just for my own betterment.
>
> It seems, and maybe I'm wrong, that when referring to the 185s they
> are generally referred to as 185R14 just describing the width of the
> tire and the rim size.
>
> But when talking about the 205s, they are usually referred to with a
> ratio: 205/70R14.
>
> Does this ratio somehow become unimportant in the 185s? Or is there
> only one ratio offered and that's why the shorthand?
>
> Cheers,
> Harry
>